I don’t have to tell you that there’s a
lot of anticipation for the HBO movie “Bessie,” about the legendary blues singer Bessie Smith, and her tumultuous life.

Starring
Queen Latifah, Mo’Nique and Michael K. Williams, the film premieres this month, May 16, and, no question, we’ve been covering it here. But what about the director behind the film, Dee Rees, herself? “Bessie” is only her second feature film after 2011’s “Pariah,” which, unfortunately, never got the wide theatrical release that it deserved, despite
major acclaim. But the good news is that, despite that disappointment, she still has been working.

However,
unlike Ava DuVernay, there hasn’t been a whole lot of mainstream media coverage of Ms. Rees, except for precious few pieces here and there. So this interview
she gave to the Huffington Post recently, is a rare treat.

In it, she discuss
the genesis of the film, and how she approached what must have been the intimidating
subject of Bessie Smith. She also talks about her struggles as a black female director, in getting projects made, while white male directors are offered far more, and she even gives some tips for
aspiring filmmakers.